


i'd rather chip my pride

by DragonEyez



Series: 15 Days of F@TT [8]
Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon, as soon as austin underscore walker confirmed, that they'd been a thing i knew i had, this gave me the perfect opportunity, to write it somehow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 19:24:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13817826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonEyez/pseuds/DragonEyez
Summary: Before there had been Calhoun, there had been Angelo, and because there had been Angelo, there was also another.





	i'd rather chip my pride

**Author's Note:**

> title from [seigfried](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWgpBlz16-s)by frank ocean
> 
> day 8: ship

The first time Angelo Tristé actually enjoyed being on a boat, he was 16 and feeling daring, stolen liquor burning through his veins and and a hidden blush burning his cheeks and he pulled Brandish along with intertwined fingers as they snuck down to the docks in the dead of night. They found a little dinghy and set sail, laughing as they were splashed by the choppy waves. It was cramped, a small space occupied by two gangly teens, but they made it work, and all was peaceful. 

“I’m going to be one of the supply sailors, soon as I’m old enough to sign up.” Brandish bragged as he gently steered the small vessel. Angelo trailed his fingers in the cold water, looking up at Brandish through a mop of unruly curls. ~~His father had been after him to cut his hair for weeks, but he kept managing to find excuses to avoid it.~~. He flashed the pearly grin that he knew was just on the right side of roguish, the one that people fawned and fainted over (and that Addy said made him look like a trouble maker).

“Oh yeah? Maybe they’ll let you be the fishing bait. Since you’re so shrimpy and all.”

Which hadn’t been true since they were children, in all honesty, but Angelo could never bear to let the joke die. His eyes trailed over Brandish’s broad shoulders and thickened arms, and knew that if they were standing, he’d now be half a head taller. He poked him in the back with his foot.

“What was that for?!”

Angelo shrugged. “I felt like it. Anyways, what am I supposed to while you’re out there on the boats?”

“You could come with me.”

They exchanged sad, wistful smiles at that thought. They both knew that Angelo would stay in Nacre so long as he was Crown Prince, and any thought more was wishful thinking that had long since been abandoned.

“I don’t think so. I think the smell of briny fish would upset my delicate constitution.” The prince said with a laugh. “You’ll just have to come back and tell me all the best stories.”

“I’ll be sure to tell you about how I ascended to captaincy in 3 days when I come back with the biggest and best thing to lay at your feet.”

The two laughed again, and any thoughts of what must be were lost in the moonlight and replaced with talk of what could be, each supposition more grandiose than the last. In the morning, they would have to sneak back into the city and, even more difficult, into the palace. But they still had hours before the dawn, and they made use of them.

\---

Calhoun shuffled in shock past the woman he had thought was his friend, the woman who had willingly sold him out to save her own skin, and onto the waiting deck of a ship he never thought he would see the like of again if he was lucky. But when had he ever been lucky in his life? He took in the sight of the man standing before him, tall, proud, and broad. Bedecked in a captain’s hat and coat and the blood of Calhoun’s own men and others.

“Brandish.”

“Ang-”

“It’s Calhoun now.” He cut him off sharply, sounding much more brave than he felt. In reality, he felt sick, as much from the sensation of having his reality ripped out from under him as the hangover.

“Calhoun, then.” 

“I see you got that captaincy after all.”

“I see you did too. Come with me.”

And Calhoun- Calhoun followed.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, comments and constructive criticism are always appreciated. i can be found [here](https://theunacceptablepylades.tumblr.com/) on tumblr or [@thedaedpoets](https://twitter.com/thedaedpoets) on twitter. and if you like what i write, consider buying me a [coffee](https://ko-fi.com/queerlydeparted)


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